Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Minister of State saw the grotesque pictures last Tuesday from Jerusalem of the American Embassy, the Israeli authorities and an entire parcel of rogues – Zionists, right wing Christians and all sorts – celebrating the move of the embassy to Jerusalem. It was grotesquely triumphalist on a day that 60 people were murdered in Gaza. Those 60 people were unarmed and included eight children. One child was only eight months old. It was ultimately depressing to see 60 people murdered. That quantifies the level of desperation experienced by ordinary Palestinian people at their situation. Occupation affects the mind and body and makes one desperate but the will of the Palestinian people will not be mown down by Israeli bullets.

I know the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade met the Israeli ambassador a few days ago. He said he was shocked and dismayed.

These are weasel words. This Government does not have the bottle to say what is required to the Israeli ambassador. People want to know what it will take for the Israeli ambassador to be told to pack his bags. Will it take 100, 1,000 or 10,000 Palestinian deaths? Where will the line in the sand be drawn? Israel is not a normal state. It is an apartheid and racist state. It was built on blood and it also survives on blood.

The Irish Government can do something about this situation. Sometimes these debates can be quite abstract in terms of what we can do but there are a number of practical steps that the Government can take. Since 2012, the Irish Government has bought €5.6 million worth of Israeli armaments, including €1.2 million worth of Israeli drones. Most people would be shocked to hear that the Irish Government is buying arms from Israel while the Israeli army is killing thousands of Palestinians. That is one practical measure the Government can take. It can stop purchasing military hardware for the Irish Army from Israel. The other thing the Government can do is support the Control of Economic Activities (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 proposed by Senator Frances Black. It is a very sound Bill which would end Irish trade with and support for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has said that he will look at that Bill again in June but I urge the Government to support it. These are two practical actions the Government can take although I am not sure it will do so. We will have to wait and see.

In 1987, this country was the first in the world to ban all goods from apartheid South Africa. It can be done if the will is there. People are horrified to see what has happened and what will continue to happen. As a country we have shown amazing support for and solidarity with the Palestinians and the least we can do now is to tell the Israeli ambassador to get the hell out of here because he is not welcome. If the Government does not do that and if it keeps buying arms from Israel, then it is complicit in this murder and mayhem. Our support is always with the Palestinian people and never with the Zionists because they are murdering bastards. That is what they are - murdering bastards.

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